The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-12-22
SUNDAY MEDITATION.
Practical Duties Taught BIZ Study OF the Inter
national Sunday school Lesson Appointed for
Jan. I. st. Matt, II: liz


fist.
One should read ST. Mark, 6 :21-29, and st.
Luke, 9:7-9.
We learn from St. Mark, 6: 81, that the &C.
casiOn leading directly to the death of st. John
Baptist was a celebration Of the birthday Of
Herod. This was Herod Antipas. His brother
were Archelaus and Herod Philip. They wer
sons of Herod the Great Herod the Great died
when Christ was about one year old, and then
the three brothers succeeded their father. Hence,
Herod Antipas had been King for about 80 years.
We may suppose he celebrated his 50th year of
life The feast took place in March, a. ID. %.
The custom of keeping birthday anniversaries
is very old and quite universal. itwas grand
occasion in honor of Herod. The Lords, High
Captains and chief estates were present" by
=" chief estates" we mean men owning great
quantities of real estate, or able TO own such.
/" Lords" were magnates, court nobility, prob
ably Governors of districts. " High Captains"
were Colonies or commanders, each Of 1000
soldiers. The civil and military branches were
represented.
The place where st. John Baptist was i'm
prisoned was Maeherus, about seven miles east
of the Dead Sea, and hence in Perea. Herod
Antipas had palace at this same place. 1t is
supposed the birthday feast was there. Herod
had other residences; G. o. at Tiberias and at
Livias or Julias. The account seems TO imply
that no very long interval occurred between
the order for the execution of st. John Baptist
and the presentation Of his head on q charger.
Herod first married Aretas, daughter of the
King of Arabia. Petrea. HeGes2=ted her, and
with Herodias eloped. Herodiss was wife OF
Herod Philip, and Philip was still alive. Such
relations as those between Herod Antipas and
Herodias were utterly scandalOus. IL is not
likely the two had lived together for more than
about two years. 1t was because st. John Bap-
fist denounced such an unhOly alliance that he
was ted nd m a
this lesson opened up. (St. Matt, II: A. Ever
since the reLuke of the prophet, HerOdias had
ragged against him and only awaited an Oppor-
tunity TO avenge herself on him. Both the
King and HerOdias refused to heed the words
of ST. John Baptist, and continued to live in
unlawful wedlOck. Hence the cause OF wrath
still existed.
St Mark IS: 21) says the birthday feast was
"a convenient day." convenient for HerOdias.
Ii sevident she was biding her time for revenge
on st. John Baptist. She saw a chance now.
She tried an experiment which worked sue
cessfully. She knew the nature of a birthday
festival. She knew Herod would become in
hueneed by wine. She knew it was custo-
mary in such excitement to have one female
or more dance for the amusement Of the
crowd. No women joined with men in the
festivities of those days. Men then be-
lieved IL unfit for women to mingle thus
freely with men. No modest woman-no
woman of character-would in those places and
times would be found in gathering of men.
The men have passed the bowl freely. Excite
ment RACES. Reason is lost. The animal in
the human rules. just then was the oppOr-
tune time, and HerOdias knew it. She sent IN
her daughter Salome, to dance. An occasion
of festivity when men are beside themselves
with wine-made joliity, has been more than
once the time of cruelty TO the righteous. The
massacre of st. Bartholomew, Aug. "a, 1872,
uei.l NIT fha fanaf nf
Henry of Navarro and his bride, the sister of
the King of France.
Some. among them the commentator Henry,
have believed Herod himself, prompted by He
Todias, cOntrived the whole program of the feast
on purpose TO effect the death OF st. John Bap-
fist. lt was planned so that, seemingly with
| out intent. Herod would make his rash prom
Use, and thus by all the force of honor be obliged
to order the execution Of the prisoner. But
st. Mark (6: 20) shows Herod had favorable
opinion of the honesty and sincerity Of St.
| John Baptist. Then, verse 90 states, appar-
emily with no idea of being sarcastic, Herod
was sorry. One thing which had deferred
| Herod from abusing or executing st. John Bap-
/ fist was public opinion, which sided positively
with the prophet. Herod's consciousness of
the integrity of st. John Baptist and of the
actual fact that his relations with Herodias
were unqnestionaby wicked, would tend to
make him less inclined 10 order the execution.
/ Doubtless Herodias was at the bottom of the
| hOrrid act.
| But the merriment of the royal party is at
| its hight. Wine has done its work. Reyelry
| feeds on intoxication. Dissipation leads to
animalism. As the human goes out the brute
enters. Bestiality has the floor. Wine and then
women. The convenient" moment has ar
rived. Now for the daRSeuse the hired ballet
| girl. Herodias sends SalOLe, bewitchingly,
meretriciOusly attired. It was shameful of q
| II L al.
| part of professional dancing girl. But st.
| John Baptist must be slain. Whea infatuated
with wine, when under influence of cOurtiers,
/ when unbalanced by the passion of lust, when
/ carried away by the strains of exciting music,
| Kings often made utterly unreasonable prom
/ ises and these sometimes even to the object of
attraction, the ballet girl. Let her be Salome.
| Let HerOd proffer her some great favor. Then
| seize on the chance to get St. John Baptist out
| OF the way. Thus Herodia5 calculated. Her
| plan was a success. The offer of HerOd in st.
Mark, :23, is after the fashion of Persian
| Kings. Est, 5:3) The Kings of Persia
rejected no request offered during royal
entertainment NJ. Anguetil du Perron
| says, IN discourse preliminary to his
| lend Avesta, The dancer Laal- KOner
| gained such complete ascendency over the
/ Slogul Emperor Maazeddin that he made her
! jOint-gOveTneSs of the Empire with himself"
/ In came SalOme. Women were never per-
| mitted in public IN Eastern countries. If ever
| for any reason in. a miscellaneous company,
/ their faces were vailed. NomOdeSt women were
| in those times ever at q party of men. But
Salome had bad example in her mother, and
| probably lacked the sensitiveness that comes of
| purity. She danced. 1t is likely she went
| through that lascivious dance known as the
Ionic of Greece. Horace (see Odes, 5, 6, 1,)
| declares the dance OF SalOme was, without
doubt, mimic, and probably voluptuous." The
lust of the eye" WAS the ruin of HerOd. A
traveller says, speaking of an Oriental dance:
"0ur ladies were invited to see one perform in
| Cairo. she was deeked with silks and velvets,
! the long hair ornamented with jewelry, and the
! dance was Al strange wrIggling OF the body, with
| singing through the nose, and with thumb pieces
and the fee was five dollars. No gentlemen are
| allowed TO witness these performances since the
| reforms brought in by Mohammed Ali"
Before them" (Y g. This means in the
midst of. The shameful part, according to East
| ern custom. was that female should be in the
| assembly of number of men-specially q
respectable woman, and particularly the
daughter of King.
Herod is infatuated. He calls to Salome.
She approaches. He tells her to express her
greatest want and promises to grant it, even il
it were the possession of one-half his King
dom. This was a common saying, not sup
posed to be taken literally, but simply indca-
favor. On its face il would be taken as an
hyperbOle. He adds oath; he swore he
would really do what she requested. Salome
may have known the whole plot. st. Mark
(6:2i) seems to show SalOme was not prepared,
- G. l. 4. a.